


Legally Blonde

by party_like_its_1899



Category: Newsies - All Media Types
Genre: Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:54:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29951640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/party_like_its_1899/pseuds/party_like_its_1899
Summary: JJ Hearst gets the lead role in legally blonde but when her parents show up things go wrong..
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	Legally Blonde

**Author's Note:**

> hitch belongs to @panicky-pancakes on tumblr!

The final bell rang for the day and the sound of voices, lockers, the afternoon announcements that went unheard, and even blaring music began to fill the halls. JJ departed from her group of popular kids. She looked like any popular highschool girl stereotype you could think of. Long blonde hair that she “definitely doesn’t bleach”, bright teal eyes, flawless makeup, an outfit that definitely cost more than any 15-year-old girl could afford, a slim figure and she stood a bit taller than average height. She nearly skipped as she walked down the hallway, turning down a less crowded hall with a small selection of lockers.

Towards the end of the hall, two people JJ could recognize out of any crowd were talking. Half-Hitch, who she’d been friends with since the day Hitch came to America, and Syd Morozov, a softball captain she’d met in late elementary school. She skipped down the hall and threw her arms around the shoulders of the other two. She scared Syd half to death and Hitch just laughed and shut her locker.

“Legally Blonde opens tonight!!” JJ said in a sing-song kind of tone

“You are almost bouncing J-” Hitch laughed “How many cups of coffee did you have today?”

JJ paused in thought for a moment “Um- More than one!”

“Tech is gonna be fun-” Syd laughed “Good luck Hitch-”

“Oh it’s only an hour at best to go over some last-minute things-” Hitch said slinging her backpack over her shoulder.

“You aren’t safe either Syd! You’re on the stage crew, you’ll get to deal with me during show time!” JJ teased, moving her arms off the two.

“Yeah but I don’t have to until at least Ireland rep-re-” Syd just stopped, their two accents not mixing well

“Reprise?” JJ asked, stifling a chuckle

“Yeah- that word-” Syd muttered, their dark complexion tinting a little red “A-Anyway. I gotta get to practice, I promise I’ll be able to make it before act 1 is over! Break a leg!”

JJ and Hitch mused a goodbye before Syd headed off towards the locker rooms. JJ and Hitch started off towards the dressing rooms down the music hall.

JJ had a key to the dressing rooms since she somehow earned the trust of the director, probably after getting a good word from the stage manager, Captain. She walked with Hitch inside and set her bag on the table, hitch doing the same. As JJ went to go get her Elle heels from the shelf in the back of the room her phone rang. She turned back around and fished through her bright pink backpack and pulled out her phone, the case clear with a few old polaroids of her, Syd, and Hitch.

“It’s my dad-” JJ said, her and hitch exchanging a shocked glance.

JJ’s dad was a famous businessman, he never called JJ. Hell, he was never home in general let alone make time for his daughter. Nonetheless, JJ picked up the phone and greeted her dad, her voice much more professional than her usual carefree shorthand ways of talking. The manhattan accent Hitch had known so well was gone while she spoke. JJ’s face lit up and a smile crossed JJ’s lip.

“Really?? See you then! Bye!” JJ’s voice had an excitement in it Hitch rarely even heard.

Once JJ hung up, Hitch spoke “Something good?”

JJ nodded excitedly “Bill convinced my parents to come to the show tonight! They’ve never come before!”

Hitch even smiled at that, she had only met JJ’s mom a few times and she’d always remembered her as being rather nice. JJ had complained about her a few times but she never said much more than the fact she was annoying. But boy was there more to that story JJ kept close to her chest.

“That’s awesome J! I can’t remember the last time either of them came to anything like this! It’s usually just Bill!”

Before everyone knew it there were 30 minutes left until places would be called, the audience had already begun filing into the large auditorium, the stage covered by the large red curtain. The director sat with the two kids working the lights and speakers to watch the show from afar. But if she needed to get backstage she had a clear path backstage. Captain was buzzing around making sure all the props and set pieces were in their correct spots and helping out where he could before he was pulled to something else while everyone was waiting on Syd to arrive. Syd always had to sneak out if they wanted to go anywhere so Captain understood why they’d be late. 

In the dressing room, JJ had music playing from her phone, a mix of show tunes, and what everyone else wanted to add to the queue. She was mouthing along to the words of the song playing while she curled her hair. Her makeup and costume were already done and ready for the first number. She had even already gotten her mic on. Hitch had been ready for a while so she tried to help anyone out if they needed it. She had time since she didn’t have to be out until Harvard Variations since she played Emmett. 

“Junie! We’re taking photos! You coming?” Melanie, the girl playing Vivienne, said quietly, falling behind the rest of the girls heading into the hall.

“Yep! I’ll be out in a sec! Let me finish curling my hair quickly!” She quickly replied

Melanie nodded and went into the hall to take photos. She turned the volume of her music down and went back to finishing her hair. Her phone buzzed and she looked down. She saw a pop-up text notification from her mom simply saying:

{Don’t let us down. Your father postponed a very important meeting for this and we don’t wish to be disappointed.}

JJ didn’t even respond and just swiped the notification away. She looked in the mirror in front of her and took a deep breath.

“You know this show like the back of your hand JJ, you’ll be fine” She tried to reassure herself. 

She was curling the last section of her hair when she heard the door open and saw hitch walk in behind her. She quickly put her smile back on and hid the anxiety that had risen from her mother’s text that still haunted her mind a little. The smile wasn’t totally fake though, Hitch’s presence always made her smile. She’d been dying to ask Hitch out for years, but there was no way that she would be able to, it, unfortunately, could ruin JJ’s reputation that her parent’s made sure she upheld. But she couldn’t say any of that...Her parents had their own perfect track record to keep up and JJ would not be let off easily for being the one to ruin it.

“You ready?” Hitch asked, hopping up to sit on the tables infront of the mirrors that had been attached to the wall.

“You know it! I’ve been so excited to perform this for months!” 

“I overheard everyone thinking about going out to dinner after the show, you down to go?”

JJ unplugged her curling Iron as set it off to the side to cool off. She shrugged and turned off her music.

“It’s really special that my parents are here tonight, I might just stay with them tonight.” 

JJ turned her back to the mirrors, leaning against the table. She looked over to Hitch.

“But I don’t know, it really depends on how the show goes-” JJ sighed “If the show goes well and they like it, I’ll probably just head home after the show. But, if they don’t like it I’ll go out with everyone,”

JJ and Hitch stayed talking for a few minutes before they went out in the hall with everyone else to take some full cast photos. Before they knew it Captain came out one of the doors leading from the hall of dressing rooms into the auditorium.

“Places everyone! It’s showtime! Break a leg!” 

Everyone quickly got to their places, trying to keep their excitement quiet.

The show was going really well, each scene went by without a slip-up. The party scene was up next and JJ, with the help of Hitch and Syd (who had just gotten there a scene prior) she quickly changed into her Bunny costume. She had done all she could do to hide the scars on her legs and did her best to make them look as normal as she could get them. She had to deal with so many surgeries throughout her life her legs didn’t exactly look right, one sitting facing inward, the other being hard to keep straight, both were littered with scars that JJ had managed to hide pretty well. 

It took everything Hitch had not to keep staring at JJ as she was waiting to get on stage. JJ walked out and snapped into character really fast. During Serious (reprise) she looked into the audience and she spotted her family, Bill looked to be enjoying himself, her mother was a little in shock and her dad wasn’t exactly pleased. 

[it’s probably the costume] JJ thought to herself while trying to stay in character.

The show went well after that scene, then it came to So Much Better. JJ was hyped up and ready to belt out the last song of the act, and her favorite song in the show. Little did JJ know things would start to crumble…

“-Kind of a cool ironic twist! Who else can I tell? Oh! Wait where’s my cell? Mom will fall on the floor!”

One of the girls in the greek chorus handed her a prop phone. As she took it she got a glimpse of the audience once more...but her parents and Bill...looked like they were getting ready to leave. JJ’s smile dropped for a second before she snapped back into character.

“Hey mom! Look at my name in black and white! Your daughter’s doing something right!” 

JJ couldn’t help but stare at her family during that line, just praying to herself that what she thinks is happening isn’t. She tried her best to keep up the act as she got to the end of the song, and had to prep for the last note.

“-I am so much better!-”

SLAM  
The auditorium door slammed shut and her parents and Bill weren’t in their seats. They’d left..

“-Than before!” JJ tried so hard to keep the last note going but her voice broke a beat early.

She stayed frozen on stage, listening to the applause until the lights went out and the red curtain closed for intermission. JJ ran offstage and back into the dressing room, tears mixed with mascara falling down her face, slowly getting faster and faster. JJ’s phone was blowing up with messages but her eyes were too blurred with tears and makeup that she couldn’t read it. She sat against the wall and slowly started to sink to the floor, her silent tears beginning to turn to sobs of anxiety, embarrassment, and anger. She put a shaking hand over her mouth to try and quiet her cries but it was too late at that point.

Captain, Syd, and Hitch quickly came through the door, each dropping to the floor around her. Captain and Syd at her sides and Hitch sitting in front of her. It would be an understatement to say JJ nearly collapsed into Hitch’s arms the second she was hugged. 

“JJ, what happened?” Hitch asked, trying to sound calmer than she was 

“My parents left.” JJ snapped between sobs

“Captain, go tell the director. Syd go make sure nobody else comes in.” Hitch directed

Captain and Syd went out of the dressing room and went off in separate ways. Hitch fully pulled JJ into her arms. They stayed like that for a few minutes until JJ’s sobs calmed down, she was still shaking but nowhere near as badly. JJ sighed shakily before getting to her feet. She walked to the mirrors and saw the trails of makeup down her face and it nearly made her cry all over again. She quickly tried to clean off the majority of her makeup, salvaging whatever she could. What she hadn’t realized was that her phone had dropped in her haste to get her makeup fixed.

Hitch picked up the phone and when it turned on with a text mesage, her eyes went wide.

“JJ...why didn’t you tell me about your home life..?”

JJ went pale and quickly took her phone from Hitch and powered it fully off, something she knew she’d regret later but at the moment it sounded like a good idea. 

“It’s nothing Hitch.” She said quickly 

JJ tried to turn away but Hitch grabbed her arm to turn her to look at her. In any other scenario JJ would be absolutely filled with butterflies with how close they were. But right now it was different, JJ’s emotions were so messed up in this moment to the point she was almost...angry with Hitch. 

She pushed Hitch away and turned away from her. She put her phone back in her bag and let out a sigh, choking back the feeling that would make her cry. She got all her makeup out once more to fix what she had messed up.

“They’ll be calling places soon. Let’s just get through the rest of this show.” JJ said, all emotion gone from her voice.

Hitch sighed and nodded. She awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. She opened her mouth to speak but decided against it knowing how angry JJ was. She glanced at JJ one last time before leaving the room to go see if anyone else needed help getting prepped for act 2.


End file.
